September 23, 2026. On September 23, 2026, at the Scientific Seminar of the GC RAS, a report was presented by Ekaterina Smotrova, an engineer at the Laboratory of Wave Processes in Space Plasma at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of RAS, titled "Study of the Interaction of Ultra-Low-Frequency Waves with Charged Particles of the Magnetosphere" (based on materials from her PhD thesis).

The report was dedicated to the study of ultra-low-frequency (ULF) waves in the Earth's magnetosphere and their interaction with energetic charged particles. ULF waves play an important role in the dynamics of near-Earth space, participating in the transfer of energy between different regions of the magnetosphere and interacting with particles of the ring current and radiation belts. Of particular interest are azimuthally small-scale Alfvén waves, which can be generated by non-equilibrium distributions of energetic particles.

The report presented the results of an analysis of satellite observations of Alfvén waves in the Pc4–5 range based on data from the Van Allen Probes mission. Using two events as examples, the features of resonant interaction of waves with energetic electrons and protons injected into the magnetosphere during substorms were examined. Analysis of variations in the electromagnetic field and particle fluxes made it possible to determine the characteristics of the observed waves, establish the types of wave-particle resonances, and investigate their generation mechanisms. The obtained results refine our understanding of the role of non-equilibrium distributions of energetic particles in the excitation of azimuthally small-scale Alfvén waves in the Earth's magnetosphere.